The television (TV) has become ubiquitous in modern society. As a result, many additional services are being provided via television. One example of an additional service which is being provided via television is an online television program guide, wherein television program schedule information is displayed on a television for searching and selection by a television viewer. Online television program guides are described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,751,578 to Reiter et al. entitled "System for Electronically Controllably Viewing on a Television Updateable Television Programming Information" and U.S. Pat. 5,293,357 to Hallenbeck entitled "Method and Apparatus for Controlling a Television Program Recording Device", the disclosures of both of which are hereby incorporated herein by reference. Other services which are being provided or have been proposed in connection with television include interactive video, video games, online stock quotation and/or banking, and video-on-demand.
The telephone has also become ubiquitous in modern society. Audio telephone communications are almost universal and video telephones are now becoming widespread. With the widespread availability of the personal computer, it is also known to provide audio and video telephone communications on a personal computer which is connected to a telephone network, which may be the internet.